Maharashtra: Puja Khedkar's family ties with BJP's Pankaja Munde come to the fore. Details here

Family of Puja Khedkar, the 34-year-old 2023 batch trainee IAS officer facing allegations of misuse of power, had close ties with Maharashtra BJP leader and former MLA from Parli Assembly constituency Pankaja Munde.

The trainee IAS officer's mother Manorama Khedkar donated an amount of Rs 12.12 lakh via cheque to the Gopinath Munde Pratishthan, a non-profit organisation run by Pankaja Munde's family, on October 3 last year. 

Not only this, Puja Khedkar's father and former civil servant Dilip Khedkar also has familial relations with Pankaja Munde, India Today reported. 

As per reports, Dilip also offered prayers at the Mohtadevi Temple in Ahmednagar and vowed to offer a 1.5 kg silver crown to the goddess if Munde was nominated to either the Lok Sabha or the Rajya Sabha.

He later offered a silver crown to the goddess after the BJP fielded Munde from the Beed Lok Sabha seat, a seat that her father late Gopinath Munde represented. Moreover, her uncle Manik Khedkar has been the taluka president of the BJP for 5 years. 

Meanwhile, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Sunday issued a notice to Manorama Khedkar, directing the removal of "unauthorised structures" adjacent to the boundary wall of their bungalow within 7 days' time. 

"We have received a complaint about the structures installed outside your bungalow causing obstacles to people. Kindly remove the unauthorised structures adjacent to the boundary wall of the bungalow in the next seven days," the notice stated.

Moreover, an FIR has been filed against Puja Khedkar's mother, father and 4 others for allegedly threatening a local farmer in Pune's Mulshi taluka. The FIR was filed under sections 323, 504, and 506 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and charges have also been framed under the Arms Act.

The 34-year-old trainee IAS officer grabbed national headlines for allegedly misusing the disability and other backward class (OBC) quota to secure a position in the IAS. She was transferred from Pune to Washim as she demanded a separate cabin, official residence, and support staff before taking charge as the Assistant Collector in Pune.